Gas holder



Oct. 17, 1950 J, w, ALLEN 2,525,758

- GAS HOLDER Filed Nov. 2, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 17, 1950 'J. w.ALLEN 2,525,758

GAS HOLDER Filed Nov. 2, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 f Jjyfi \l I I29 5 g 60AQ Z8 24' :1 a gin! E 1! M 0 77 677 ,457%MM%M Patented Oct. 17, 1950 GASHOLDER John W. Allen, Chicago, 111., assignor to Chicago Bridge & IronCompany Application November 2, 1945, Serial No. 626,210

3 Claims. (01. 48--178) This invention relates to a gas holder for thestorage of gases under pressure.

Gas holders of the general type set out here in are designed to storegas at a substantially constant pressure and are constructed with afreely floating roof which rides on the gas and rises and falls as thequantity of gas within the holder is increased and decreased. I haveinvented an improved type of gas holder that employs a seal between theroof and the shell of the holder to prevent the escape of gases. Thisseal has its major portion supported by the edge of the roof when theroof is in its lowest position and supported by the shell when the roofis in its highest position. The intermediate portion of the seal isbowed upward by the pressure of the gas within the gas holder. The newgas holder also uses simple light-weight guide means to guide the roofduring its travel and maintain the roof substantially level.

The invention will be described as related to the embodiment shown inthe accompanying drawings. Of the drawings Fig. 1. is a plan view of.the gas holder partially in section; Fig. 2 is a vertical section takenalong line 2-2 of Fig. 1 with the roof in lowered position; Fig. 3 is avertical section similar to Fig. 2 with the roof in raised position;Fig. 4 is a partial vertical seetion taken along line 2-4 of Fig. l withthe roof in lowered position; and Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4with the roof in; raised position.

The gas holder illustrated in the accompanying drawings comprises acylindrical shell If), a cylindrical roof I l positioned therein, threepairs of guide means l2 spaced around the edge of the roof andcontacting the inner surface of the shell i0 and a flexible seal l3extending between the edge of the roof II and the inner surface of theshell Ill.

The guide means it includes three upwardly extending brackets isattached to the top edge of the roof and carrying wheels it in contactwith the shell Iii. These top brackets are made up of two parallelplates with the wheels carried between the plates, and the brackets arespaced around the roof to divide its circumference into threesubstantially equal portions. More top guide means may be provided ifdesired, but three is the minimum number that will give the roof itsdesired stability. The bottom portion of the roof is of slightly smallerdiameter than the sides of the roof, in order to form a re cessedportion I6 at the bottom edge of the roof. This recessed portion carriesdownwardly extending brackets ll, serving as bottom guide means. Eachbottom bracket I1 is made up of parallel plates carrying a wheel i3 atits lower end in contact with the shell. Each bottom bracket H isaligned beneath a top bracket l4 and thus provides two points of contacton the shell for each guide means. This serves to give rigidity to theroof and to keep it in substantially horizontal position at all times.The top brackets I 4' extend slightly above the top of the roof, whilethe bottom brackets I! extend. below the roof 3, distance substantiallyequal to the thickness of the roof. The bottom brackets have a greaterextension than the top brackets in order to provide space forpositioning the seal iii.

The seal i3 is preferably a fabric impregnated with a gas imperviousflexible material. The material may be a synthetic rubber such asneoprene. The seal is of annular shape extending from the edge of theroof to the shell. The inner edge of the seal is fastened to the bottomof the roof at the outer surface i9 defined by the recessed portion 55.The edge of the seal is held in place by a circular band 2!) and bolts2! passing through the bottom i9, seal 53, and band 29. The seal extendsupwardly along the side of the roof. The outer edge of the seal is.fastened within a rectangular outwardly extending horizontal groove 22provided in the shell. This groove is closed off from the interior ofthe shell by means of a vertical backing plate. The: outer edge of theseal is clamped to the bottom surface of the groove 22 by means of bolts26 and a circular band 25. Thebolts 24 pass through the band 25, thebottom flattened edge of the backing plate 23, the edge of the seal, andthe bottom of the rectangular groove 22. The plate 23 provides supportfor the seal when the roof is in an elevated position. The two edges ofthe seal are substantiall aligned horizontally when the roof is aboutmidway in its path of travel from its lowest position to its highestposition. When the roof is in its lowest position (Fig. 4) the majorportion of the seal is supported by the outer surface of the roof. Whenthe roof is in its highest position (Fig. 5) the major portion issupported by the shell. The unsupported intermediate portion of the sealis bowed upward by the pressure of gas within the gas holder.

At the top of the shell there is an inturned flange 26 serving as a windgirder and rain shield, and also as a stop to limit upward movement ofthe roof. Beneath each bottom bracket I! there is located a verticalwell 21 into which the bracket passes when the roof approaches itslowest position.

The roof may be Weighted so that the gas may be stored under any desiredpressure. As shown in the drawings, this weighting includes a bottom bedof sand 28 capped by a layer of concrete 29. The concrete is held inplace by an inwardly projecting flange 39 attached to the inner surfaceof the roof. When the gas holder is 100 it. in diameter and the roof is97 ft. in diameter 1100 cu. yds. of sand and 150 cu. yds. of concretewill provide a gas storage pressure of approximately 3 lbs. per squareinch.

Having described my invention as related to a typical embodiment of thesame, it is my intention that the invention be not limited by thedetails of description unless otherwise specified, but rather beconstrued broadly within its spirit and scope as set out in theaccompanying claims.

I claim:

1. A gas holder comprising a substantially cylindrical shell, asubstantially cylindrical weather roof therein adapted to rise and fallwith increasing and decreasing quantities of gas and to rest on thebottom of the gas holder in its lowermost position, a verticallyupstanding cylindrical wall about the periphery of the roof, at leastthree pairs of guide members positioned around the edge of the roof andcontacting the inner surface of the shell, with each guide membercarrying a wheel to contact the shell and each pair of guide membersbeing vertically aligned with one of the guide members of each pairspaced above the roof and with the other guide member of each pair beingspaced below the roof, an annular seal of substantially gas imperviousflexible material having its inner edge attached to the verticalperipheral surface of the roof and having its outer edge attached to theinner surface of the shell between the spaced wheels on each pair ofguide members, said seal having its major portion contacting thecylindrical wall when the roof is in its lowest position and contactingthe shell when the roof is in its highest position with the intermediateportion of the seal bowed upward by pressure of gas within the holder,stop means located at the top of the shell and arranged to be contactedby the top guide members to limit upward travel of the roof, verticalwells at the bottom of the gas holder so located that the bottom guidemembers pass thereinto when the roof approaches its lowest position, andmeans for introducing gas into the shell below the level of theattachment of the seal to the shell.

2. A gas holder comprising a substantially cylindrical shell, asubstantially cylindrical weather roof therein adapted to rise and fallwith increasing and decreasing quantities of gas, and to rest on thebottom of the gas holder in its lowermost position, a verticallyulpstanding cylindrical wall about the periphery of the roof, at leastthree pairs of guide members positioned around the edge of the roof andcontacting the inner surface of the shell, with each guide membercarrying a wheel to contact the shell and each pair of guide membersbeing vertically aligned, with one of the guide members of each pairbeing spaced above the roof and with the other guide member of each pairbeing spaced below the roof, an annular seal of substantially gasimpervious flexible material having its inner edge attached to thevertical peripheral surface of the roof and having its outer edgeattached to the inner surface of the shell between the spaced wheels oneach pair of guide members, said seal having its major portioncontacting the cylindrical wall when the roof is in its lowest positionand contacting the shell when the roof is in its highest position withthe intermediate portion of the seal bowed upward by pressure of gaswithin the holder, vertical wells at the bottom of the gas holder solocated that the bottom guide members pass thereinto when the roofapproaches its lowest position, and means for introducing gas into theshell below the level of attachment of the seal to the shell.

3. The gas holder of claim 2 in which the guide members beneath the roofare substantially completely inserted in said wells when the roof is inits lowermost position.

JOHN W. ALLEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 619,510 Sergeant Feb. 14, 1899633,427 Cooper Sept. 19, 1899 1,851,158 Day Mar. 29, 1932 1,911,462 NealMay 30, 1933 2,194,581 Weichsel 11 Mar. 26, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS NumberCountry Date 4,790 Great Britain 1823 228,986 Great Britain 1925 573,423Germany 1933

